‘I am the light of the world.’ John 8:12
When we read the story of creation, what is the first thing God does? Genesis 1:3 tells us. God says ‘Let there be light and there was light.’ Without light the other element s of creation couldn’t even be seen. and right up to this day ‘man fears darkness rather than light.’ When I was a youngster my younger brother used to have night terrors. I would often wake in the night to hear my parents comforting him. The darkness had brought a terror on him.
Darkness is associated with robbers and thieves doing their robbing and thieving. Our cities are illuminated in artificial light so that travellers can find their way and the countryside is a place to be lost without the light of the moon.
But it is not just physical darkness that we need to fear; there is also darkness of the soul. We need the light of Christ to shine in our hearts. This is a light that will be displayed by our our living. God’s light will give us a better judgment in life, we will be living under His wisdom and not our own. It is God’s light in people that shines on everyone. It is that light that introduced hospitals, hospices and all manner of good works.
Jesus said that a city set on a hill cannot be hidden. May we pray that our light will ‘shine brightly before men!